Dichter, Ernest, 1907-1991

Ernest Dichter, one of the pioneers in consumer motivational research, was born in Vienna on August 14, 1907, and died near Peekskill, N.Y., on November 21, 1991.

Dichter came to the U.S. as a refugee from the Nazis in 1938 and worked for the advertising agency J. Stirling Getchell, Inc. and for the CBS Network before starting his own consulting business in 1946. It was incorporated in New York as the Institute for Research in Mass Motivations, Inc., in 1952 and renamed the Institute for Motivational Research, Inc., in 1955. Dichter maintained branch offices in Paris (1958), Rome (1959), London (1958-69), Zurich (1968-80?), and Frankfurt (1970-74?), the latter two surviving as independent organizations.

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